Monkeying around and horsing about on a hill station

While going through my old stuff, I happened to find some pictures of a trip which I had been meaning to write about for a while but didn’t come around to it anytime. Murphy states “Anything that can go wrong, will”. This was a trip where several Murphys were working overtime and I was mainly at the receiving end.

It was in the summer of 2006 (or around that time –plus/minus a year or two) that me, Ash and Mike decided to head to the hill station of Matheran for the weekend to escape the heat in the city. It was late evening that we reached Neral station and we started our trek to Matheran without sparing a moment so we could get a place to stay. Adventurous that we were, we had not pre-booked our stay and the convenient apps to book a stay didn’t exist during that time. The trek to Matheran was pretty uneventful and though we reached the Matheran gates around 11pm when everything around was pitch dark and all places closed, we found some locals who directed us to someone who had rooms to let. The room that the person offered was small but it served our purpose since it was enough for the three of us to get through the night; not to mention the slim chance we had of finding another place. This was a non-AC room but the weather was so pleasant that we threw open the windows and the gentle breeze was enough to keep the room cool. Since we had to rise up early the following day to go exploring, we decided to hit the sack early too. We patted the mattress, got the Old Monk Rum out along with the finger food and fixed our drinks… before we could call it a day. And when we did, we left our windows open to welcome the first of the disasters waiting to strike. The owner of the pad had not warned us about the monkeys that attack a room with windows open. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of monkeys  screeching. There were about 7 to 8 monkeys on the table next to the window where we had left our unfinished food.  I looked around to see Ash was snoring on his side of the bed and Mike who had decided to continue drinking for some more time was slumped in a sitting position with his glass of drink still in his hands resting on the bed while leaving the lights in the room on. My immediate reaction was to shoo away the monkeys; however instead of scooting, they got annoyed and took an attacking stance, to which I backed off. I slowly moved towards Ashwin and shook him, slightly at first and then a little more violently. He opened his eyes, looked at me as if to ask ‘Why the heck have you not gone to sleep yet?’ I whispered to him “Don’t panic, but take a look at the table yonder. He shifted his gaze and he freaked out only to realize what I did earlier that the monkeys get annoyed with any action directed at them. Of all the breathing creatures in the room, only Mike was at peace with himself oblivious to the action scene brewing about. He was also closest to the door and Ash nudged him so he could wake up, open the door and we could bolt out but any effort to rouse Mike paid no dividends. Finally Ash slowly crawled across the room and opened the door. The moment the door was open, all the monkeys dashed out of the window with whatever food packs that they were holding. I jumped at the window to close it, but in jumped one huge mo’fo, grabbed the only pack of chips that was left behind and bolted. We kept the windows shut for the rest of the night, only glad to escape without any monkey attack.

Mike was the first one to be up and in good spirits (pun intended). He got us up and didn’t seem interested at all in the narrative of the night before incidents.  Once we had freshened up, we headed to one of the sight-seeing points that offer a wonderful view of the expanse from the hill station. Little did I realize that I was welcoming another disaster-in-making when we hired horses for going trotting about. We selected our horses; the owner of the horses told us the names and asked us to speak to the horses for some time to get accustomed to them. My horse was Raja and I spoke to it about the weather, its well-being and what-not for a considerable time. We mounted our respective horses but were soon wanting for some more adventure and we requested the owner if we could get the horse to gallop. After much cajoling, the owner relented, on one condition (Thank Heavens) that he would guide the horses on a gallop while we enjoy the ride. He briefed us that we should not be seated and should be literally on the stirrups with knees bent slightly while the horse gallops. We said “cool”.

Mike displayed exceptional talent as he completed his ride and I was all kicked about my ride. I spoke a few gentle words to Raja again and I was ready for my ride. The first 10 to 15 seconds were phenomenal and my adrenaline was all pumped up while Mike, Ash and other passer-bys cheered AND THEN, Raja skidded slightly on some gravel on a bend. He regained his composure in a moment, but I got a little thrown off balance and the reins slipped off my hands. With nothing to hold, I grabbed Raja and hugged him around his neck while he continued his gallop. Before I realized, my legs were out of the stirrups and I tightened my grip around Raja holding on to dear life. It was only seconds but it felt like a lifetime when the owner brought the horse under control and to come to a standstill. I was shivering as I dismounted, when Ash comes up to me guffawing, pointing out to me that my legs were flapping about furiously when they were out of the stirrups and gave the impression that the horse had sprouted wings to transform into a Pegasus gearing up for a flight. I looked at him and if my eyelids weren’t shivering too, he would’ve recognized the intensity of the glare, but it evaded him and Mike joined him in in laughter too. I thanked God silently. We decided we had enough excitement/sight-seeing for the day and we headed to a restaurant for food and Old Monk Rum to set the evening up before we leave homewards.

By the time, we checked out it was 6 and the sun was almost down. We decided to trek it down to the Neral railway station as well, since we had plenty time on our hands to catch the last train to the city. We prepared our ‘Tribal Mixes’ for the way back. Now, ‘Tribal Mix’ is a term we use among our circle and it refers to Old Monk mixed in the Coke pet bottle. Darkness set in rapidly and we were enjoying our ‘Tribal Mix’ and conversation on our trek down. We even stopped to enjoy a waterfall and by the time we were back in dry clothes, we were pretty buzzed. Somewhere along the way on a dark patch, Mike claimed that he saw a ghost-like apparition and that he sensed it following us. I told him that it was all rot and very soon we were arguing whether he was bullshitting or not while Ash remained neutral. Mike challenged me to walk behind away from them if I rubbished his ghost instinct. I said okay, simply turned and started walking in the direction that we had come from. Now, Mike was holding the only flashlight that we had and just to prove myself I continued walking even beyond a bend in the road. I stopped when I realized that it was way too dark and sat down by the side of the road chasing my Tribal Mix till these guys came to fetch me. In ten minutes, when they still weren’t around, I decided to walk back to them. In zero visibility, I didn’t realize when I had reached the far side of the bend and suddenly the gravel beneath my feet gave way, my Tribal Mix shot out of my hand while I slid on the slope from the edge of the road and I grabbed the first thing that my hands could grab and it turned out to be some root of a plant or a shrub (I do not remember which) and my fall was halted. I could sense that I had hurt my ankle in the fall. I didn’t venture to climb up because I could not see a thing. I shouted “Help!, Ash, Mike” and when no response came back, I decided to wait it out. I was filled with disgust that I had also lost my Tribal Mix that could’ve eased the anxiety while I stayed put. After about 15 minutes, I saw a flicker of the flashlight in a distance and then Mike and Ash calling out to me. I responded till they found me sprawled over the edge. They leaned and pulled me up. I had hurt my ankles real bad and limped across all the way to Neral station with support from my friends and sips from their Tribal Mix. We missed the last train and had to wait at the railway station for the first train next morning.

When we got back to the city, a visit to the doctor confirmed a hairline fracture. I was and am still grateful that nothing really bad happened during the trip, when things could’ve taken a turn for the worse on many an occasion. Ultimately, the trip felt like a pilgrimage where I had atoned for my sins with some penance albeit in the form of some bruises and a broken leg. And despite many a fight/argument during that trip, the bond of friendship between me, Mike and Ash was strengthened and we remain thickest of friends till date.